New listing successes:

More great news on the historic pub preservation front. Every edition of this bulletin since December has carried news of new statutory listings which give real protection against damaging change. There has been a new flurry of listings by the Department Culture, Media & Sport following advice received from English Heritage. In all cases application for the listings had been made by CAMRA’s Pub Heritage Group to try and safeguard our precious National Inventory pubs.

MANCHESTER, BRUNSWICK, MAWSON, 78 Francis Street, Brunswick, Chorlton-cum-Medlock, Manchester, M13 9SQ. 0161 273 2157. Listed at grade II. An unassuming exterior but an intact interior from 1936-7 with a typical northern drinking lobby and separate rooms. There are lots of original features – tiling, seating, servery fittings and even the former off-sales area. What is encouraging about this listing is that the modern uPVC windows which have been a barrier to listings in the past have not prevented the decision. See the entry on the Heritage Pubs web site.

SOUTH YORKSHIRE, BARNBURGH, COACH & HORSES, High Street, Barnburgh, Doncaster DN5 7EP. 01709 892306. Listed at grade II. Built in 1936-7 for brewers Whitworth, Son & Nephew. Three rooms plus a large drinking lobby. Notable is the servery with glazed screenwork over the counter. See the entry on the Heritage Pubs web site.

WEST YORKSHIRE, LEEDS LOWER WORTLEY, BEECH, Long Road, Lower Wortley, Leeds, LS12 1HX. 0113 263 8659. Also listed at grade II. 1931 with a multi-room plan and lobby and original fittings. See the entry on the Heritage Pubs web site.

WEST YORKSHIRE, HALIFAX, THREE PIGEONS, 11 Sun Fold, South Parade, HX1 2LX. 01422 347001. Listed at grade II. 1930s pub with a splendidly intact Art Deco interior with an octagonal drinking lobby in the centre and separate rooms leading off. See the entry on the Heritage Pubs web site.

NORTH YORKSHIRE, YORK, GOLDEN BALL, 2 Cromwell Road, Bishophill, York, YO1 6DU. 01904 652211. Also grade II for a Victorian street-corner pub with an almost intact interior from a refurbishment by John Smiths in 1929. Lots of interesting tilework and an unusual plan. See the entry on the Heritage Pubs web site.

NORTH YORKSHIRE, YORK, SWAN, 16 Bishopgate Street, Clementhorpe, York, YO23 1JH. 01904 634968. Another York pub listed at grade II and also a Victorian street-corner pub with an interwar interior fitted out under plans of 1936. Drinking lobby and two separate rooms. See the entry on the Heritage Pubs web site.

WEST YORKSHIRE, LEEDS, GARDEN GATE, 3 Whitfield Place, Hunslet, Leeds, LS10 2QB. 0113 270 0379 . Marvellous news – this great Edwardian pub has been upgraded to II* which places it in the top 6% of all listed buildings in this country. This is really one of the top must-visit pubs on the National Inventory for its original layout and spectacular fittings. See the entry on the Heritage Pubs web site.

The next edition of Beer will carry an article about the crop of recent listings. Something that is particularly gratifying is that there are so many interwar cases. The best of our Victorian pub interiors have been pretty well protected but it is good to see later ones now getting the recognition they deserve.

Pub closures:

NORFOLK, NORWICH, WOODSIDE, Thorpe St Andrew, Norwich. As reported in last month's What’s Brewing this pub is closed. Andrew Davison reports that the site fenced off and that it's understood locally that the pub has been bought by a developer, and will be replaced by housing. See the entry on the Heritage Pubs web site.

Other news:

Andy Maxam, Birmingham CAMRA Pub Preservation Officer reports the following: -

The Britannia, Aston, Birmingham has reopened as a snack bar (no alcohol let alone real ale). The tiling is still intact and the back bar still exists but the original bar and seating has gone.

The Woodman, Digbeth, Birmingham has reopened and, probably because there is little trade in the surrounding area at this time, there is currently no real ale on offer.

Also it has been reported to us that the Queen’s Head, Willsbridge, Gloucestershire, which was on the National Inventory until changes led to its removal last year, is likely to close shortly due to poor trading conditions.

Thanks to Wetherspoons …

… the BLACK HORSE, NORTHFIELD, in Birmingham should be reopening by August according to RJD Architectural Design and Project Management who are supervising work there.

And finally …

Mick Croxford spotted an item from The Times, 16 April, that Britain’s oldest pub landlady has been immortalised in a church carving. Flossie Lane pulled pints for 74 years at the Sun Inn, Leintwardine, Herefordshire, before she died last year aged 94. Friends and the new pub owners raised £5,000 for a misericord (a feature originally designed for monks to rest against during church services). It features the landlady pouring a pint from a barrel. It will join other, medieval misericords which may originally have come from Wigmore Abbey.

Please feel free to forward this bulletin to your friends who are also interested in visiting pubs like these - if they wish to receive future bulletins direct all they have to do is sign up by sending an email to CAMRAPubHeritage-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Geoff Brandwood